When Adelaide Cowherd's adoptive parents can no longer afford her college tuition (hello, Great Depression!), Addie, as everyone calls her, has to get a job to help pay off her debt. With experience working in her college library, she's offered a position as a "packhorse librarian" in Boone's Hollow, Kentucky. Organized by the WPA, packhorse librarians deliver library books to poor people.
But little does Addie know that the folks in Boone's Hollow don't take kindly to outsiders. They don't even take kindly to their own kind, especially when their kind go off and graduate from college, as Emmett Tharp has done. He's the first in his family to go to college, much to his mother's delight. However, the Depression has made it hard for educated men to find jobs. Is working in the coal mine alongside his father Emmett's only option?
If Bettina Weber had her way, Emmett would stay by her side in Boone's Hollow or elsewhere for the rest of her life. She may be young, but she's had her sights set on Emmett since they were kids, and she just knows that Emmett will court and marry her one day. Except, it seems like Emmett has eyes for new librarian Addie.
The Librarian of Boone's Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer is more than just a love triangle and romance. In fact, there's nary a romantic scene until the very end. This is actually a story about finding out other people's stories. Boone's Hollow people are unkind to old Nanny Fay, but that's because they don't really know her. Bettina is unkind to Addie, but that's because she never gives Addie a chance. And nobody in town knows the real story of Bettina and her late mom, except for one person.
I enjoyed how the author weaved scripture throughout the novel without hitting you over the head with it. It seemed very natural for these church-going characters to quote the Bible. And I also liked how the main characters were working to change the bigoted attitudes of the townspeople through library books and stories. Reaching out to those who are different is exactly what Jesus would have done.
The Librarian of Boone's Hollow is published by WaterBrook and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free e-ARC in exchange for my review.
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